In the sorting of large quantities of disc-like objects such as coins, consideration of labor costs dictates that as much work as possible should be accomplished by automatic means. There are many machines available for mechanically sorting and counting coins but, generally speaking, these machines are of a complex structure with electric motors and many mechanical parts; they are costly to produce and they are subject to breakdowns. Such devices often utilize vibratory means in a feeder portion to induce movement of the objects to a sorter or other equipment. Also while the present invention relates particularly to the feeding of coins it is understood that feeders for other disc-like objects such as washers, buttons and bottle-caps are afflicted with the same problems as are coin feeders and sorters. Representative devices are found in Canadian Pat. Nos. 946,008 (Gess) and 946,009 (Hodgins) both issued Apr. 23, 1974 and in U.S. Pat. No. 3,752,168 (Bayla) issued Aug. 14, 1973. The two Canadian Patents use spiral vibratory feeders to move articles (bottle caps and buttons respectively) in a single line to a chute device which feeds the articles, one at a time, to a subsequent work station. Such equipment would not be suited to feeding disc-like objects having different diameters and thicknesses as they would be prone to jamming and piling. The U.S. patent shows a vibratory feeder for feeding a random mix of coins to a coin sorter but the structure thereof is complex, expensive to produce and could be prone to jamming. Specific means must be provided to avoid piling up of coins and the feeding of unwanted coins.
There is also a need for a feeding device for manual coin sorters such as that defined in my Canadian Pat. No. 769,469 issued Oct. 17, 1967. That coin sorter is a small unitary device provided with chutes of different widths and depths for the sorting of coins into stacks convenient for wrapping. To operate this sorter the operator feeds coins by hand to a receiving area at the top thereof, allowing the coins to proceed, by gravity, along their respective chutes until he has coins sorted for a roll. He than proceeds to roll-wrap and he thus alternates between feeding and roll-wrapping. This sorter is ideal for small volume coin handling but does not have the capacity for large volume jobs. It is desirable, therefore, to combine this device with a mechanical coin feeder which could at least double the coin handling efficiency of the sorter. In order to make such a feeder attractive from an economic standpoint it must be less complex than previously available units, it must reduce as much as possible any jamming of the coins, it must be relatively inexpensive to produce and it must be readily mountable on the coin sorter.